A really big neon sign in 1/87

[Ken Hamilton]

....I keep coming back for another look at those letters.
They're gorgeous.

[SandiaPaul]

WOW, does this bring back memories....I saw that sign nearly everyday for 2 years from the F train while I was going to grad school at Pratt, it was my fav part of the trip, esp at night when it was lit up. Great project!

[BKLN]

Thanks, everybody! Feedback like that is very motivating!

I am through with all the annoying repetitive work on this thing, so now it is really a pleasure to see this monster take shape with every step. I will post some more progress photos later.

And -no, I won't light up. It will be a lifeless steel carcass just like the original. DaKra tried to talk me into lighting the neon tubes, but it would have been too much. The neon tubes, by the way, are made from .010 x .020" styrene strips. I did some experiments with wire, but the wire option proofed to be too clumsy and too hard to control.

SandiaPaul,
I am excited to hear that you actually know the sign. And that you actually saw it lit at night. I moved to Brooklyn in 2002, after Kentile went out of business, so I have never seen it lit. And I have been searching the whole web, but I couldn't find one single nighttime picture of the sign.

[Chuck Doan]

 There are a number of pictures of it on Flickr, and all are of the post-business era. Apparently making floor tiles from Asbestos wasn't a great idea after all.

[Ken Hamilton]

Hey, BKLN......are you the guy who attended CSS-09 with Dave K?

[BKLN]

Yes, Ken! We met at CSS09.
DaKra lured me in, just like he did here.

[DaKra]

Yup, talent hidden is talent wasted.   

[Chuck Doan]

Yup, talent hidden is talent wasted.  

Ain't that the truth! I know of some very talented modelers who rarely show up online. Then again maybe they realize what a black hole of time the internet is!

[TRAINS1941]

Perhaps you are a little too critical of your work right now because you are so deeply engrossed in it. From my standpoint it is satisfactory. -- Russ

Yes if you would have had a thong girl in the picture it would have been excellent!!  Just remember when he saw the sign he was under the influnece of a good "BRANDY"!!!

I'm thinking sober right now and it looks excellent to me!!!

Jerry

[Ken Hamilton]

Yes, Ken! We met at CSS09.
DaKra lured me in, just like he did here.

....thought so.
Hope to see you there again this year!

[BKLN]

I had a really good week. During the week I gave the scaffold a simple paint job (Krylon Dark brown ultra flat camo from the spraycan) and put up the letters. Spacing them out was a little difficult, but it worked well in the end.

I apologize for the bad picture quality, but I usually end my work session at night, when it is way too dark to shoot outside or setup proper indoor lighting. I'll promise some outdoor pictures once this thing is done.

Ken,
I am looking forward to talk to you again this year. My tolerance for "oh-so-cute-clapboard-country-store-cannery-tobacconists-barber-shop-bordellos" is pretty low, but I think there might be a certain lumber stacker on display that I really need to see at CSS10.

[BKLN]

...and the backside.

[BKLN]

Earlier this weekend I started the roofing. I have tried a lot of different methods to create a tarpaper effect in 1/87. Besides newspaper strips I really like blue painters tape, because it is easy to position. Once all the tape is on, I give it a coat of diluted white glue. A thick layer of acrylic paint will smoothen out hard edges.

The roof of the Kentile tower has a very dark, very dull roofing, while the surrounding buildings have a grey-ish , lighter shade.

[Chuck Doan]

That is just beautiful! Totally captures the real thing.

[BKLN]

I started my Sunday morning with a final coat of wall paint. Until then I only had a simple base color that had a green tint from the texture paint I used to create a bit of stucco look. The actual color is darker eggshell, almost creamy white.
The western side of the building has a lot of roof-top graffiti. Originally I intended to make waterslide decals for that, but those turned out being too large to handle. I also don't like the edge that you get from a decal. I ended up painting the graffiti by hand, which was a lot of fun. (against all expectations) There too, I had to take some shortcuts, but the overall-feel is right. Again, nothing here for nut-counters.